Yarn cleaner



Jul 7, 1925. I H. E. VAN NESS YARN CLEANER Filed July 26, 1922 avwentoz2. 2

' Elmira,

I which Patented 7, 1325-.

warren STATES HENRY E. VAN HESS, OE ELHIBA, NEW YORK.

YARN 01.1mm

Application fled July as, 1922. Serial ll'o. 571,402.

To all may cmwernr I Be it known'that I, HENRY VAN Nnss, a citizen ofthe United States, residin at in the county of Chemung and tate of. NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in YarnCleaners, fully described and representedin the following specificationand the accompanying drawings forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to yarn cleaners for eliminating from yarnimpurities of all sorts, as well as slubs and knots.

The invention relatesto the type of yarn cleaner described and claimedin my co ending applications, filed March 21, 1922, erial No. 547,596,and filed June 8, 1922, Serial .No. 566,722, (on which United States Patents Nos. 1,456,261 and 1,456,262 were issued 'to me on May 22, 1923) inwhich the cleaning is accomplished by a plurality of yieldably insecuring'the end of one of the cover pieces to the frame in such mannerthat its distance from the other cover justed so as to vary the istancethe inner edges of the rigid blades as desired. In order that theinvention ma clearly be understood, IIwill describe in etail thespecific embodiment of it which is shown in the accompanying drawings,in which Fig. 1 is a top view of the cleaner with a portion of the coverplates broken away;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the rear portion of-the cleaner sectioned onthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a rear end view of the cleaner. The cleaner shown in thedrawings is adapted to operate upon a traveling yarn which is beingdrawn from a bobbin or other V supply into a winding or spooling orother machine. The cleaner may conveniently mounted elements which areset into vibrabe secured to a portion of the frame of any tion by thetravel of the yarn,and, when vibrating, serve to knock, brush and scrapeoff impurities adhering to the yarn, and to beat out impurities embeddedin the yarn. I have found that when yarn cleaners of this type are usedin connection with certain types of yarn, the yieldably mounted elementspermit the passage of slubs and of knots of suflicient size to interferewith the operation of knitting or other machines in the yarn is to beused. The present invention aims to eliminate this difficulty.

A yarn cleaner constructed in accordance with the present inventionincludes yieldably mounted cleaning elements and also a pair of rigidblades having closely spaced inner edges which embrace the yarn. Theseedges are positioned so that they permit the passage of knots which areso flat and small that they will not cause difliculty in the knitting orother machines in which the yarn is to be used, while at the same timethey cause the yarn to break when a slub, or a knot of suflicient sizeto cause trouble in the knitting machine, is drawn into the yarncleaner.

A further feature of the invention consists in forming the rigid bladesas integral extensions of two cover pieces placed over a frame in whichthe yieldably mounted elements are supported. In this way the advantagesof the invention are obtained without adding additional parts to theyarn cleaner and without causing any additional trouble in threading thecleaner.

A still further feature of the invention lies ,such machine, and forthis purpose there may be secured to one side of the frame 10 of thecleaner a stud 11 containing a hole and provided with aset screw 12. Itwill be understood, however, that the cleaner ma be mounted in anydesired manner and wifi operate upon any traveling yarn regardless ofthe nature of the machine into which the yarn is being drawn.

The frame 10 of the cleaner may be rectangular, as shown, and the ends13 and 14 of the frame may be made integralwith one side 15 of theframe. It is desirable to form the other side 16 of the frame. of aseparate piece of metal, and to attach it to the ends 13, 14 in suchmanner that the distance between it and the side 15 of the frame may bevaried.

The ends 13 and 14 of the frame are provided at their middles withrecesses 20, 21 which permit a yarn A to be drawn longitudinally acrossthe frame some distance below the upper edge of the framen-rTothe end 13of the frame, which I term therfrontend because it is the end from which'the tpiece ma be ad tween,

traveling yarn enters the cleaner, is atplies a drag to a yarn drawnacross the plate under it. As the tension device illustrated forms partof the subject matter of my copending application, filed July 20. 1922,Serial N 0. 576,249, it is not described in detail, or claimed, in thepresent application.

In the frame 10 are mounted a plurality of cleaning elements. Theseelements include staggered forwardly inclined cleaning blades 53, andairs of rearwardly and downwardly inclined cleaning and deflectingblades 73. Each of the blades 53, 73 is yieldably mounted by means of aresilient supporting member 52 or 72, the outer end of which is securedin one of the sides 15 or Ii of the frame 10. The resilient members maybe formed integral with the blades as shown.

The cleaning elements 53, 73 are enclosed by a casing which includes askirt 25 secured to the outside of the frame 10 and depending therefrom,and a cover secured to the top of the frame 10 and consisting of twopieces 26, 27, whose inner edges are spaced some distance apart toprovide a wide slot 28 extending from the recess 20 in the end 13 totherecess 21 in the end 14. Blades 30, 31 extend rearwardly and downwardlyfrom the rear edges of the cover pieces 26, 27, respectively. Theseblades are preferably formed as integral extensions of the cover pieces.So far as the operation of.

the cleaner is concerned, these blades may be re arded as rigid.

he blades 30, 31 are located outside the skirt 25, and the inner edges32, 33 of the blades include between them a narrow slot 34 which islocated behind the recess 21 of the rear end member 14 and substantiallyin alignment with the slots included between the pairs of yieldablymounted blades 7i. The inner edges of the blades 30, 31 includediverging portions 35, 36 providing an outwardly tapering space 37 atthe inner end of the slot 34 connecting the slot 34 with the wider slot28 between the cover pieces. These inner edges include also divergentportions 38, 39 providing an outwardly tapering space 40 at the outerend. of the slot 34.

The cover pieces 26, 27 are secured to the frame 10 in such manner thatthe width of the slot 34 between the blades 30, 31 may be adjusted asdesired. In the form illustrated, the cover piece 27 is secured in fixedposition upon the frame 10 by screws 45, 46 entering tapped holes in theends 14, 13 of the frame and passing through round holes in the coverpiece. The front end of the cover piece 26 is secured to the front endmember 13 of the frame by a screw 47,

similar to the screws 45, 46. The rear end of the cover piece 26 isadjustably secured to the rear end member 14 of the frame 10 by means ofa screw 48 which passes through a transverse slot 49 in the cover piece26. It is apparent that if the screw 49 is loosened, the cover piece 26may be turned about the screw 47 so as to vary the distance between theinner edges of the rigid blades 30 31.

In threading the cleaner which has described, the yarn A is dropped ordrawn into the slot 28 between the inner edges of the cover pieces 26,27, and pulled downwardly. As the yarn is pulled down, it is guided bythe portions 35, 36 of the inner edges of the blades 30, 31 into theslot 34. It is drawn down until it occupies the position shown in thedrawings, in which it extends longitudinally across the frame 10 at thelevel of the bottoms of the recesses 20, 21 and between the inner edges32, 33 of the rigid blades 30, 31f The yarn is then drawn through thecleaner by a winding or other machine not shown in the drawings.

In the operation of the cleaner the yieldably mounted blades 53, 73 areset into vibration by the impingement of particles projecting from theyarn, and, when vibrating, serve to knock and scrape off particlesadhering to the yarn, and to beat out particles embedded in the yarn.The blades 73 serve to direct the particles which have been removeddownwardly into the space within the skirt 25. In cleaning certain kindsof yarn, the yielding of the plates 53 and 73 permits the passage ofslubs and of knots of suflicient size to interfere with the operation ofa knitting or other machine in which the yarn is to be used after it hasbeen cleaned. Such slubs and knots are, however, caught against theinner edges of the rigid blades 30, 31 causing the yarn to break. Theoperator thus receives notice of the presence ofa slub or large knot andmay break out the slub or large knot and retie the yarn with a flat knotwhich will not have a detrimental effect in a knitting or other machine.As the blades 31, 32 are located to the rear of the frame 10 and outsidethe skirt 25, it is not necessary to rc-thread the frame after the yarnhas been re-tied. It is merely necessary to insert the pieced yarn inthe slot 34 from the bottom. The diverging portions 38, 39 of the inneredges of the blades facilitate this operation.

The distance between the inner edges of the rigid blades 30, 31 isadjusted so that the blades permit the passage of flat knots which willnot be injurious in knitting, but break the yarn when a large knot orslub is drawn against them. The blades are usually adjusted so that thedistance between them is about equal to the diameter of the yarn.

' It should be clearly understood that the inventlon is by no meanslimited to the Ben specific mechanical features of the embodiment whichhas been illustrated, except in so far as these features are specifiedin the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. A -yarn cleaner, comprising the combination of a-plurality oftransverse blades yieldably mounted for movement having a component inthe direction of travel of the yarn and a component away from the yarnso that they permit the passa e of knots and slubs, and a pair of rlgidlades embracing the yarn and adapted to catch knots or slubs upon theyarn.

2. A yarn cleaner, comprising the combination of a plurality oftransverse blades yieldably mounted for movement having a component inthe direction of travel of the yarn and a component away from the yarnso that they permit the passage of knots and slubs, a pair of rigidblades embracing the yarn, and means for adjusting the distance betweenthe inner edges of said rigid blades so as to cause them to break theyarn when a knot or slub exceeding a predetermined size is drawn againstthem.

3. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of aligned cleaning units, acommon support on which said units are mounted, a cover for saidsupport, and an integral extension of said cover providing a slotaligned with said units. I

4. A yarn cleaner, comprising an open frame having aligned recesses inits front and rear ends to ermit the passage of the yarn longitudinal yacross the frame, a plurality of cleaning elements in said frame, twocover pieces on said frame having spaced inner edges forming a slotextending between the recesses at the ends of the frame, a air of rigidblades formed integral wit said cover pieces respectively, extendingdownwardly and outwardly from the rear edges of the cover pieces, andhaving closely spaced inner edges positioned to the rear of the recessin the rear of the frame, and means for adjusting the relative positionof the rear portions of thecover pieces so as to vary the distancebetween the inner edges of said blades.

5. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of ali ed cleaning units, acasing enclosing said units and providing a slot through which the yarnmay be drawn into operative relation with said units when the cleaner isthreaded, and a air of rigid blades outside said casing an providingbetween them a slot aligned with said units and forming a continuationof the threading slot of the casing.

6. A yarn cleaner, comprising a plurality of aligned cleaning units, acommon support on which said units are mounted, two cover pieces securedto said su port and providing between them a threa in l t a air ofblades extending outwardly roin sai cover pieces respectively and havinginner edges formed to provide between them a slot narrower than saidthreading slot, an outward- 1y tapering space at the inner end of saidslot connecting it with said threading slot, and an outwardly taperingspace at the outer end of said slot. I

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. '1

HENRY E. VAN HESS.

